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D P
ISCUSSION OSTS
Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, you are required to provide a
thread in response to the provided prompt for each assigned discussion. Each thread must be
450–500 words, demonstrate course-related knowledge, and include at least 1 relevant Bible
verse for the topic.
October 28, 2022
Elementary teachers are often times involved in curriculum decisions for language arts.
How do students develop communicative competence using the six language arts? Find one
peer-reviewed journal article to support 1 of the 6 language arts to support your response
and the module readings. This response should incorporate your biblical worldview, and a
citation of the article in current APA format, including the URL, if applicable. Your thread
must reflect scholarly writing and use third-person perspective.
Elementary teachers are involved with language arts 9/10 times. When teaching children,
it is essential that the students know that they can communicate what they need however they are
able to. Some students have trouble when it comes to communicating their needs and this is
where we, as educators, come into place. As educators, we, ensure that our students can
communicate in their everyday situations by practicing vocabulary, maybe sign language, or
even hand gestures. The six language arts are as follows listening, talking, reading, writing,
viewing, and visually representing. I currently teach pre-k, and our curriculum requires us to read
two books a day. We are also required to teach the students to write and identify some CVC
words. When it comes to using the six language arts in my classroom, we try to practice them
every day. Each day the students have a writing activity, a visual activity, an oral activity, and a
listening activity. Most of these activities require the student to use two at a time for example I
would read a short passage to the students and ask questions about it afterward so, the students
would be using their listening skills along with their verbal /visual skills. Practicing this every
day allows the students to get used to using their skills in their everyday lives and will prepare
them for kindergarten.
The first two of the six language arts are listening and talking. When discussing listening
students aren’t often aware of the different types of listening. Discriminative listening, aesthetic
listening, efferent listening, and critical listening are the four different types of listening.
Discriminative listening means that you are distinguishing among sounds. Aesthetic listening
means you are listening for pleasure or enjoyment. Efferent listening means that you are trying to
understand the messages. Lastly, critical listening means you are evaluating the messages. Each
listening type is just as important as the one before it. When it comes to talking skills some
schools think that a quiet classroom is a learning classroom but I think it is just the opposite.
When a classroom is quiet I don’t see how the students can share their ideas with one another,
whereas, some schools encourage quiet classrooms to ensure that the students are learning. Quiet
classrooms were once considered the most conducive to learning, but researchers now emphasize
that talk is a necessary ingredient (Boyd & Galda, 2011).
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The next two of the six language arts is the written language and reading. There are five
stages to both the reading and writing process. The reading process is a series of stages during
which readers read, explore, and reflect on the text they’re reading. The writing process is similar,
involving a variety of activities as students gather and organize their ideas, write rough drafts,
revise and edit the drafts, and, finally, publish their writings. (Tompkins, 2015) Both reading and
writing share the same goal, creating meaning. Each state has its own requirements and
standards when it comes to the reading and writing process it does not state how it needs to be
taught as long as the students can achieve the requirements by the end of the school year.
The final two of the six language arts are viewing and visually representing. Most people
don’t realize the information our eyes pick up and send to our brains because it is second nature.
For example, when looking around a clothing store we observe each item that spikes our interest.
The color, symbols, humor, and font of that clothing item. Viewing is in the six language arts
because it is more complex than most know. Viewing isn’t only looking at an item, artwork,
clothing, etc. but it is also analyzing, taking mental notes, and making judgments. Visual
representation is communicated by using art, graphics, and drama. Artistic representations are
communicated by drawing pictures, making quilts, building collages, shooting videos, taking
pictures, etc. Graphic representations are communicated by creating charts, graphs, and
diagrams. Finally, dramatic representation requires the person to use their imagination and
meaningful context.
References:
Boyd, M. P., & Galda, L. (2011). Real talk in elementary classrooms: Effective oral language
practice. New York: Guilford Press.
Tompkins, G. E. (2015). Language Arts: Patterns of Practice (9th ed.). Pearson Education (US).
https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/books/9780133910230
Replies:
Hello Noah,
I enjoyed reading your first discussion post in this course about the six language arts. I agree with
your statement "teachers must use understanding of the four language systems,..." In order to
properly teach the six language arts such as listening, talking, reading, writing, viewing, and visual
representation. The teacher will need to understand each one and how they differ from one
another. When I first became a teacher I was unaware of how important the six language arts
really were and I was unsure how to properly teach them in a way my pre-k class could easily
understand. It is important to incorporate all six language arts in our lesson everday in order for
each student to get in the habit of using each one. Sometimes it is more effective when the
students practice using more than one at a time. The six language arts help students become
effective communicators when they become adults.
Hello Doris,
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I enjoyed reading your first discussion post in this course on the six language arts. You gave
great examples of how teachers can use the six language arts in their daily lessons and how each
student can benefit from each example you provided. It is important that teachers let the students
practice each of the six language arts even if that means practicing multiple at a time for it to
become more effective. I am also a Christian but I didn't think much about how the six language
arts were implemented into our religion. I now see that our religion is focused on the six
language arts. We read and take notes on the bible, we praise God's word to our neighbors, we
pray to him and listen to his voice each time he speaks to us, and we watch movies/plays based
on the bible and God's word. We as use the six language arts every day without even realizing it.
November 3, 2022
The teacher's role in the learning process is well-documented and supported through
educational research. The support provided to children through differentiated instruction,
scaffolding, and authentic learning provide environments in a language arts setting to
encourage achievement and growth. Why do teachers need to differentiate instruction
reading instruction? Find 1 peer-reviewed journal article to support differentiation in one
of the 3 areas and to support the module readings: 1) differentiation in the reading
classroom, 2) with English language learners in the reading classroom, or 3) with struggling
learners in the reading classroom. This response must incorporate your biblical worldview
and include a citation of your article in current APA format, including the URL if
applicable. Your thread must reflect scholarly writing and use third-person perspective.
Differentiated instruction means understanding how each child learns best and changing
the instruction to meet each student's individual needs. When teaching, it is essential to use
strategies that best help the students learn. Differentiation within a classroom can be a little
difficult but as long as you can pinpoint each student’s specific needs teaching and learning will
become easier. teachers provide variation in learning materials, instruction time, and pace in their
classrooms. (Faber, 2017) I currently work in a classroom that has various learning levels and
needs. Each student knows more or less than the student next to them. Throughout my
classroom, I use the motto “If it doesn’t work, try it a different way” the lessons in my classroom
are designed in a way that each student can effectively learn from them no matter the individual's
need. One part of the lesson will be hands-on, another part will be visual/audio, and another part
will be a formative assessment. If the lesson is only formative the students who are hands one
will not learn as effectively as the rest and visa versa.
There are four ways to differentiate within a classroom, learning environment, end
product, process, and content. The learning environment plays a big role in a student's academic
achievements. To start, a student's learning environment should always be a positive learning
environment to ensure each student is comfortable and get the most out of each lesson. Activities
that can be used throughout the students learning environment can be reading groups or
individual reading sessions. The next type of differentiation used throughout the classroom when
reading is the process. How the content is delivered should be a way for each student can
effectively learn from the lesson. Visual and audio learners could be allowed time to watch read-
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alouds or listen to the read-alongs. Hands-on learners can pick a book, or read the book used for
the lesson, and practice reading it one-on-one or as a small group and take turns.
Lastly, when deciding the content of a lesson on reading it is important to not only decide
on content the students will have an interest in but also something on their academic level. If a
student is given a book/story that is too easy or difficult for them this will result in a lack of
interest along with little to no knowledge gained from this part of the lesson. A popular activity
educators use throughout their classroom is to read half of a book/story as a class, or small
group, and allow the students to predict the ending. Doing this activity not only supports the
needs of the visual and audio learners but it also supports the needs of the hands-on learners.
To sum up, everything I’ve stated this far, differentiating each literary lesson is very
important, especially in a young student’s life. There are various ways that an educator can
differentiate the material within their classroom as long as it supports each student's needs.
Proverbs 1:5 says, Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands
obtain guidance. I believe each student has a right to learn it's just up to the teacher to provide
them with the appropriate material and the patience required.
References:
Faber, J.E., (2017, August 17), Differentiated instruction in a data-based decision-making
context, Taylor and Francis Online
https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1080/09243453.2017.1366342
Replies:
Hello Teja,
I enjoyed reading your discussion post this week on differentiated instruction for English
Language Learners. Teaching can sometimes be a little difficult when instructing a lesson to fit
each students’ different needs but, seeing each student succeed in a way they weren’t able to
when they first entered your class is very rewarding. I like that you gave examples of different
ways to differentiate throughout the classroom for English Language Learners by splitting up
into groups of two and suggesting that a stronger reader gets paired with a reader that struggles
to strengthen not only the weaker reader but to also enhance the stronger readers skills. When the
students are learning from their peers, they gain insight from another perspective that’s not their
teacher and can widen their knowledge. I also like the graphic organizer idea to better help the
struggling readers. When reading your last paragraph, I really like the statement “each student
was made and formed by God for a purpose.” This statement reminded me of an assignment I did
in a previous class where I needed to interview someone that had a child that is special needs.
My brother is special needs so I interviewed my mom, one question I asked was “If you could
change my brother in any way, would you?” she stated, “no because, God made him this way for
a reason, and I wouldn’t change him for anything.” This statement made me so happy because I
didn’t think of it that way, I assumed my mom would’ve said yes to the question, but she didn’t
because God made him this way for a reason.
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Hello Cameron,
I really enjoyed reading your discussion post for this week on differentiating reading instruction.
I currently teach pre-k and although the children are so young, they each have different learning
needs. It is our job as educators to assist each child’s different learning needs. While in pre-k
each teacher is required to assess each child to see where they stand at academically and to see if
the strategy used when teaching was easy for the student to understand. I agree with your
statement “recognizing struggling readers early allows teachers to plan effective interventions,
group students according to the school level, and provide any additional supports that students
may need. Assessing a student is important because it provides useful feedback for the instructor,
student, and the students’ parents. This feedback should be documented for proof of the
assessment and if the teacher, parents, or administrators need to come back to it later in the
school year. There are different types of assessments as well such as, formative assessments and
summative assessments. A formative assessment is an evaluation during the student’s learning
session. A summative assessment is taken at the end of the course and sums up the student’s
academic level. Both assessments are used in most all grade levels, including pre-k.
